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Small, vertical-axis wind turbines -- arranged on a given landscape according to computer modeling that allows each turbine to maximize the power of others near it -- may hold the potential to lower wind power costs. The concept from Caltech aeronautical and bioengineering professor John Dabiri has been demonstrated on a test plot in California and next faces a trial at an Alaskan village of 50 residents.

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Massachusetts-based Wing Power Energy, developer of a micro-wind system that combines a vertical-axis wind turbine with a solar panel, is aiming to market its technology to wireless service providers and large retail chains. Wind Power Energy's system is ideal for areas where limited infrastructure or space constrains renewable energy options, said CEO Harry Ruda.

Vertical-axis wind turbines and other alternative designs are still not as productive and cost-efficient as horizontal-axis turbines in utility-scale installations, some experts say. "We need to demonstrate a cost-effective, reliable vertical-axis wind turbine. It's a straightforward engineering challenge, but it hasn't been done yet," said John Dabiri, a professor at the California Institute of Technology.

The power output of wind farms might be improved by up to 10 times by using arrays of closely spaced vertical-axis wind turbines that could capture nearly all of the energy of the wind, say researchers at the California Institute of Technology. "Organizing the arrangement of wind turbines based upon the vortices shed by schooling fish is definitely a new approach," Caltech aeronautical engineer Robert Whittlesey said.

The power output of wind farms might be improved by up to 10 times by using arrays of closely spaced vertical-axis wind turbines that could capture nearly all of the energy of the wind, say researchers at the California Institute of Technology. "Organizing the arrangement of wind turbines based upon the vortices shed by schooling fish is definitely a new approach," Caltech aeronautical engineer Robert Whittlesey said.

In a California lab full of robotic vehicles and live jellyfish, aeronautics engineer John Dabiri is coming up with new technologies that could revolutionize the wind-energy business, according to this article. By studying the ways in which marine animals school, Dabiri says, he is developing vertical-axis turbine systems capable of extracting far greater amounts of energy from the available wind. "There are some fundamental advances that can be made if we reconsider whether the three-bladed turbine is the optimal solution," he says.